The Red Rose Guild was a guild based in Manchester, with the aim to promote British arts and crafts. It was “regarded as the most influential national outlet for makers” in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century. The Guild was founded in 1921 by printmaker Margaret Pilkington, OBE, and remained active until 1985. The Guild held annual exhibitions at Houldsworth Hall, part of what is now Hulme Hall, Manchester until World War II. Prominent members of the Guild included potter Bernard Leach, silversmith Joyce Himsworth and weaver Ethel Mairet. After the war, the Guild moved its headquarters to Whitworth Hall. In 1950 the Guild joined the Crafts Centre of Great Britain.
History In 1920 an exhibition by northern craftsmen living in London was held at Houldsworth Hall. Called The Red Rose Guild of Arts and Crafts, its success led to the formation of the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers in January 1921. The Guild was inspired by the work of William Morris. Its symbol, a red rose, reflected the Guild's origins in the north west of England.
The Guild was “a central authoritative body, maintaining exacting standards for membership and providing both a vital sales outlet and a regular annual meeting place.” They made a point of excluding any exhibits which appeared either ‘commercial’ or machine-made.
The Guild played a leading role in the debate about the future of craftspeople after WWII. They campaigned for state protection and the guild's secretary, Harry Norris, successfully argued for the exemption of “key craftworkers from war service in order to ensure the survival of craft skills.” This debate resulted in craftworkers being exempt from “punitive” post-war purchase tax. Alongside this they developed a craftsman's licence scheme.
In 1950 the Guild joined the Crafts Centre of Great Britain, alongside the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, the Society of Scribes & Illuminators, the Senefelder Club and the Society of Wood Engravers.
Name The Guild's name evolved over time. Founded as the Red Rose Guild of Arts and Crafts in 1920, it changed its name to the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers in 1921. In 1940s the name was changed to the Red Rose Guild of Craftsmen and finally in the 1960s to the Red Rose Guild of Designer Craftsmen.
Exhibitions and venues An advertisement in the Manchester Evening News for the Guild's first exhibition in October 1921 listed exhibits including “Embroideries, Lace, Weaving, Jewellery, Leather and Basket Work, Sculpture, Pottery, Stained Glass &c”. Exhibitions were held at Manchester's Houldsworth Hall every autumn until the outbreak of war in 1939.
In 1925 the exhibition had 32 stalls; by the 1950s the number was over 80. The 1926 Arts and Crafts yearbook read “a general colour scheme was introduced of cream outlined with black and gold which proved an excellent background for the exhibits.”
May 1939 saw a month-long exhibition at Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, including, for the first time, calligraphy, and bookbinding. In the same year the Guild opened a shop on St Ann Street, Manchester. In 1940 the Guild moved its headquarters to The Whitworth Hall.
The Guild held joint exhibitions with the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society at the Manchester City Art Gallery in 1940, and in London in 1941 and 1944. The 1941 catalogue had an introduction by Nikolaus Pevsner, who “predicted a bright future for the crafts after the war.”
The first exhibition in Manchester after WWII was held in November 1946.
From 1963 to 1974 the Guild had a permanent exhibition space featuring members’ products at the Crane Gallery (Northern Crafts Centre), South King Street, Manchester. In 1971 the Guild held an exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery to mark its 50th anniversary. The 1984 exhibition was held in June at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Crafts the journal The journal Crafts was edited by Harry Norris from 1940 to 1946. He used it “to advance a series of anti-industrial polemics”. The magazine featured the “last thoughts of Eric Gill” together with essays by H. J. Massingham, Percy Beales, Anthony Gardner and Michael Cardew. It was published until at least 1948.
Organisers Early organisers of the Guild included founder, Margaret Pilkington OBE (1891–1974), who remained on the board for forty years. She was the first honorary secretary and occasionally took the chair from 1926 onwards. In the early years of the Guild, Pilkington was supported by Kathleen Smartt, Dorothy Hutton, and Margaret Fullerton Davies. Harry Norris, Pilkington's “protégé” was secretary and Mr Cadness was chair.
Later committee members included Charles F Sixsmith (chairman) in 1937, Reginald Marlow (chairman) in 1967, Marie Nordlinger (committee member) and Alex McErlain (treasurer) in 1980s.
Members The Red Rose Guild included the following members:
Name Dates Specialism Pat Atkinson Potter Phyllis Barron 1890–1964 Textiles Howard Bissell Potter Mary Booth Jeweller Mary Bryan 1918 - ? Textiles Francis Cargeeg 1893–1981 Coppersmith Mr A Carne Ironworker Molly Challoner Silversmith Kathleen Clarke Embroiderer Derek Clarkson Potter Margaret Clarkson Silversmith Catherine ‘Casty’ Cockerell (later Cobb) 1903–1995 Jeweller Sydney Cockerell 1897–1962 Bookbinder Peter Collingwood, OBE 1922–1997 Weaver Joanna Constantinidis 1927–2000 Potter George Frederick Cook 1927–2000 Potter Emmanuel Cooper 1938–2012 Potter Francis Glanville Cooper 1918–1983 Potter Ronald Glanville Cooper 1910-? Potter Gertrude Crawford 1868–1937 Turner Helen Crosby Weaver Bernard Cuzner Jeweller William Bower Dalton 1868–1965 Potter Stanley Webb Davies 1894–1978 Furniture maker Brian Dewbury Potter Alan Durst 1883–1970 Wood carver Derek Emms 1929–2004 Potter William Fishley Holland 1889–1969 Potter Mary Farmer 1940-2021 Textiles Kathleen Fleetwood Jeweller Robert Charles Privett Fournier 1915–2008 Potter Joyce Mary Griffiths 1912-? Weaver Joyce Hainsworth Silversmith Mrs K Hampson Weaver Deborah Harding Potter Anthony Paton Hawksley 1921–1991 Jeweller and silversmith Gerd Hay-Edie 1909-1997 Weaver Joyce Gwendolyn Haynes Potter Henry Hammond Potter John Henshall 1913–1996 Calligrapher Miss K Heron Weaver Joyce Himsworth 1905–1989 Silversmith Ruth Hurle Weaver Dorothy Hutton 1889–1984 Calligrapher Margery Kendon 1902–1985 Weaver Muriel Jackson 1901–1977 Wood engraver Muriel Lanchester 1901–1992 Potter Rita Lankuttis Embroiderer Dorothy Larcher 1884–1952 Textiles Bernard Leach 1887–1979 Potter Ethel Mairet 1872–1952 Weaver John Makepeace b.1939 Furniture designer Reginald Marlow Potter Enid Marx 1902–1998 Designer William Ongley Miller 1883–1960 Painter Alice Moore 1909–1980 Embroiderer Theo Moorman 1907–1990 Weaver Roy Mulligan Furniture maker Gwen Mullins, OBE 1904–1997 Weaver William Staite Murray 1881–1962 Potter Henry George Murphy 1884–1939 Silversmith Robin Nance 1907–1990 Furniture maker Kenneth Neville Enameller Sue Newhouse Embroiderer Edith Norris 1877-1989 Stained glass and mosaics Harry Norris1901-1968 Woodworker David Peace Glass engraver Marcia Pidgeon1955-? Gold and silversmith Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie1895-1985 Potter Fiona Porteous Textile Roger Powell1896-1990 Bookbinder Dunstan Pruden Silversmith Elizabeth Reddish Silversmith Archie Milne Robertson Potter Seonaid Mairi Robertson 1921–2008 Potter Gordon Russell 1892–1980 Furniture maker Dunstan Alfred Charles Pruden 1907–1974 Goldsmith and sculptor Barbara Sawyer 1919–1982 Weaver Arthur Simpson 1857–1922 Wood carver Hubert Simpson 1889-? Wood carver Marianne Straub 1909–1994 Weaver Ann Sutton b.1935 Weaver Julia M Sweet (? – 1942) Lacemaker Thomas W Swindlehurst c.1900-1965 Calligrapher James Spencer Taylor 1921–2010 Graphic designer Joyce Barbara Taylor 1921–2006 Embroiderer Margaret Stanley Thompson 1918–2007 Wood engraver Pauline Vivienne Potter Roy Waddington 1917–1981 Calligrapher James Walford 1913–2001 Potter Hugh Wallis Silversmith Florence Welch Weaver Geoffrey Whiting 1919–1988 Potter Rosemary Wren 1922–2013 Potter
Other exhibitors included The Weaving School for Crippled Girls (1936), the Manchester School of Art, Salford School of Art and Bolton School of Art.
External links Records of the Red Rose Guild at University for the Creative Arts
References